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Freed POW's disappearance wasn't first, Army reports

By Charlie Savage and Eric SchmittNew York Times

Posted:
06/05/2014 12:01:00 AM CDT

Updated:
06/05/2014 11:17:36 PM CDT

WASHINGTON -- A classified military report detailing the Army's investigation into the disappearance of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl in June 2009 says he had wandered away from assigned areas before -- both at a training range in California and at his remote outpost in Afghanistan -- and then returned, according to people briefed on it.

The roughly 35-page report, completed two months after Bergdahl left his unit, concludes that he most likely walked away of his own free will from his outpost in the darkness of night, and it criticized lax security practices and poor discipline within his unit.

But the report stops short of concluding there is solid evidence that Bergdahl intended to permanently desert.

Whether he was a deserter who never intended to return, or simply slipped away for a short adventure amid an environment of lax security and discipline and then was captured, is one of unanswered questions about his disappearance.

The issue is murky, the report said, in light of Bergdahl's previous episodes of walking off.

The report is said to cite accounts from his unit mates that in their predeployment exercise at the Army's National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., he sneaked or crawled off a designated course or range either to see how far he could go or to see a sunrise or sunset.

It reportedly cites members of his platoon as saying he might have taken a shorter unauthorized walk outside his combat outpost in eastern Afghanistan before he left for good, in an incident that was apparently not reported to commanders.

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The Military Times on Wednesday first reported that claim, citing officials familiar with the report.

But the report reportedly contains no mention of Bergdahl having left behind a letter that explicitly said he was deserting and explained his disillusionment, as a retired senior military official briefed on the investigation at the time said this week.

Asked about what appeared to be a disconnect, the retired officer said he read a field report discussing the existence of such a letter in the early days of the search and was unable to explain why it is not mentioned in the final investigative report.

The Pentagon declined to discuss the report or make it available.

The narrative about Bergdahl over the past few days has undergone a rapid evolution based on accounts by current and former soldiers, growing increasingly darker.

They have gone from saying he should not be treated as a hero because he was a deserter and blaming the search for him for every U.S. combat death in the province over a three-month period, to alleging that there is evidence that he was trying to meet up with the Taliban.

Amid the controversy, a planned celebration in his hometown, Hailey, Idaho, to mark his return has been canceled.

But the accounts of the report suggest that even basic facts necessary to understand how he came to disappear have yet to be definitively established.

The people briefed on the report described it on condition of anonymity because it remains classified.

The report was written in July and August 2009 after interviews with members of Bergdahl's unit, including his squad leader, platoon leader, and company and battalion commanders.

It reportedly confirms certain other details relayed in recent accounts, including that Bergdahl shipped his computer and a journal home before he disappeared.

It also confirms he left behind his body armor and weapon -- an unwieldy machine gun -- taking with him water, knives and a compass.

The report speculates that he likely left in the darkness after the moon had set, following one of two possible routes through the concertina wire.

While much of the report is said to focus on disciplinary problems within his unit and a lack of accountability within its chain of command, the report is also said to portray Bergdahl as a free-spirited young man who read martial-arts books, drank tea with Afghan soldiers from whom he tried to pick up Pashto phrases, and maintained a collection of throwing stars and knives.